A self-moving robot cleaner is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. Sho 58-221925. The self-moving robot cleaner disclosed in this Japanese Patent carries out a cleaning operation as follows. A high reflexibility tape is attached to a floor along a desired path to be cleaned. An optical sensor of the robot cleaner strikes light on the tape and receives the reflected light from the tape in order to search the path of the tape. Therefore, the robot cleaner can suck dust and dirt from a floor while moving along the path defined by the tape.
As another conventional vacuum cleaner, there is, of course, the well known manual vacuum cleaner. However, in the manual vacuum cleaner, the user should carry a nozzle for sucking dusk and dirt so as to clean a wide floor and a hose for introducing dust and dirt into a dirt-collecting chamber should be limited to a substantially shortened length. Although the manual vacuum cleaner having the shortened hose can clean a floor without any particular problem when the floor is narrow, a canister and the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner must be frequently moved during cleaning operation when a floor is wide.
In addition, a moving range of the vacuum cleaner is restricted by the length of the power cord for connecting the vacuum cleaner to a power source. Also, when the vacuum cleaner cleans a wide floor, a plug of the power cord must be frequently plugged in power sources at different positions because the power cord is short. When a power source is not available in the vicinity of a floor to be cleaned, it is necessary to provide an additional extension cord for connecting the plug to a main power source. Furthermore, since the user must carry the vacuum cleaner during the cleaning operation, the user must endure troublesome noise generated from the cleaner.